CCU unit for sustainable methanol at Perstorpe

Under the newly announced Project AIR, Perstorp plans to build a first-of-its-kind, commercial-scale carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) unit to produce sustainable methanol via a combined CCU and gasification process at its site in Stenungsund, Sweden (pictured). Depending on securing grants to finance it, the aim is start producing in 2025.

The company will source raw materials in the form of its own CO₂ and residue streams, renewable hydrogen from a new electrolysis plant to be built by Fortum and Uniper, and biomethane from Nature Energy. In all, the project would substitute 200,000 tonnes/year of methanol and save 500,000 tonnes/year of emissions, while enabling downstream users to move towards more renewable and circular materials.

“This innovation would both optimise the use of existing technologies while building something completely new, as well as demonstrating CCU using captured CO₂ as a raw material,” said Perstorp president and CEO, Jan Secher. As well as “a concrete example of the transition towards a circular economy”, it “would be an important step for us to achieve our goal of becoming finite material-neutral,” he added.